Samantha Fish
Samantha Fish | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Kansas City, Kansas, United States | 30 January 1989
Genres | Blues, roots rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, guitarist |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals |
Years active | 2009–present |
Labels | Ruf |
Website | samanthafish |
Samantha Fish (born 30 January 1989)[1] is an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Early life and education
Samantha Fish grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. Fish started out playing drums, but when she was 15 she switched to the guitar. Fish frequently went to the Knuckleheads Saloon to hear touring Blues artists. After turning 18, she often joined in with the singers and bands who were performing at Knuckleheads.[2][3]
Career
In 2009, Fish recorded and produced Live Bait. The live album attracted the attention of a talent company, who recommended her to Ruf Records.[2] Ruf Records put together a record with Fish and two other female blues artists, Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde, titled Girls with Guitars. The three guitarists then toured on the Ruf Records 2011 Blues Caravan in the U.S. and Europe.[citation needed]
Fish continued touring with the Samantha Fish Band, featuring "Go-Go Ray" Pollard on drums and Chris Alexander on bass, playing in Europe and the United States. In 2011, Fish recorded Runaway with the help of her mentor Mike Zito. The album won the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist.[2]
Fish appeared on Devon Allman's 2013 album Turquoise in a duet covering the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks' song "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around".[4] During the summer of 2013, Fish was called up on stage to play with a skeptical Buddy Guy who was so impressed with her playing on the guitar, he declared with a beaming smile to his audience, "When this kind of shit happens, I'll play all night!"[5]
In 2013, Fish released her second major studio album, Black Wind Howlin', featuring Mike Zito on guitar, Yonrico Scott on drums, Johnny Sansome on harmonica, and Paul Thorn, vocal duet on one track.[2] The album was recorded in Dockside Studios, in Maurice, Louisiana. Mike Zito's bandmates from his group Royal Southern Brotherhood, Yonrico Scott and Charlie Wooton, were brought in to assist in the session recordings.[3]
Also in 2013, Fish appeared on The Healers Live at Knuckleheads Saloon, producing a CD/DVD collaboration with Jimmy Hall, Reese Wynans, Kate Moss, and Danielle and Kris Schnebelen (sister and brother, formerly of the band Trampled Under Foot). Proceeds benefit the Blue Star Connection. The Healers occasionally perform together as their schedule permits.[citation needed]
Fish's third studio album, Wild Heart was released on July 10, 2015. The new album is more roots rock than her earlier blues rock.[citation needed] Fish wrote five songs on the record. She co-wrote five other songs with Jim McCormick in Nashville, Tennessee. Luther Dickinson produced the album, as well as played various stringed instruments (guitar, bass, mandolin, lap steel) to flesh out the sound.[6] The album was recorded in four studios, Royal Studios and Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, Zebra Ranch in Coldwater, Mississippi, and Blade Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana.[7] Other musicians on the record are Brady Blade (drums), Lightnin' Malcolm (guitar), Shardé Thomas (drums), Dominic Davis (bass), Shontelle Norman-Beatty (background vocals), and Risse Norman (background vocals).[citation needed]
Fish released her fourth solo album, Chills & Fever on March 17, 2017.[8] The album was recorded in Detroit and was recorded with members of the band The Detroit Cobras. Bobby Harlow produced the album.[9]
Fish will release her sixth solo album, Kill or Be Kind, on August 30, 2019 on her new label, Rounder Records.[10]
Awards
Fish has won the following awards:
- Best New Artist Debut – 2012 Blues Music Awards in Memphis[11]
- Artist of the Year – 2016 Independent Blues Awards[12]
- Best Independent Female Blues Artist – 2016 Independent Blues Awards[12]
- Best Independent Blues Contemporary CD (for Wild Heart (Ruf Records)) – 2016 Independent Blues Awards[12]
- Best Modern Roots Song (for "Go Home" from the album, Wild Heart) – 2016 Independent Blues Awards[12]
- Road Warrior – 2016 Independent Blues Awards[12]
- Best Contemporary Blues Album (for Chills & Fever (Ruf Records)) - 2017 Blues Blast Music Awards[13]
- Best Independent Female Blues Artist – 2017 Independent Blues Awards[14]
- Road Warrior – 2017 Independent Blues Awards[14]
- Best Blues Album (for Belle of the West (Ruf Records)) – 2017 Best of the Beat Awards[15]
- Best Modern Roots CD (for Belle of the West (Ruf Records)) – 2018 Independent Blues Awards[16]
- Best Independent Blues-Soul Artist – 2018 Independent Blues Awards[16]
- Best Stage Performance – 2018 Independent Blues Awards[16]
- Road Warrior – 2018 Independent Blues Awards[16]
- Song for Common Good (for "American Dream" from the album Belle of the West)– 2018 Independent Blues Awards[16]
- Female Blues Artist of the Year (Readers' Poll) – 2018 Annual Living Blues Awards[17]
- Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year – 2018 Blues Music Awards[18]
- Best Female Vocalist – 2018 Best of the Beat Awards[19]
- Best Blues Performer – 2018 Best of the Beat Awards[20]
- Best Guitarist – 2018 Best of the Beat Awards[21]
- Artist of the Year – 2018 Best of the Beat Awards[22]
Charts
- Black Wind Howlin'[23]
- Top Heatseekers at No. 47 (2013)
- Top Blues Albums at No. 7 (2013, 2014)
- Wild Heart[24]
- Top Blues Albums at No. 1 (2015)
- Belle of the West [25]
- Top Blues Albums at No. 1 (2017)
Family
Her elder sister is Amanda Fish, a fellow American blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.[26]
Discography
Albums
Title | Year | Artist Name | Label | Producer | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Live Bait | (2009) | The Samantha Fish Blues Band | The Samantha Fish Blues Band | Steve McBride | |
Girls with Guitars | (2011) | Samantha Fish / Cassie Taylor / Dani Wilde | Ruf | Mike Zito | |
Runaway | (2011) | Samantha Fish | Ruf | Mike Zito | |
Girls with Guitars Live CD/DVD | (2012) | Samantha Fish / Dani Wilde / Victoria Smith | Ruf | Uwe Treskatis, Thomas Ruf | |
Black Wind Howlin' | (2013) | Samantha Fish | Ruf | Mike Zito | |
The Healers CD/DVD | (2013) | Jimmy Hall / Reese Wynans / Samantha Fish / Kate Moss / Danielle Schnebelen / Kris Schnebelen | Blue Star Connection | Stellar Press | |
Wild Heart[27] | (2015) | Samantha Fish | Ruf | Luther Dickinson | |
Chills & Fever | (2017) | Samantha Fish | Ruf | Bobby Harlow | |
Belle of the West | (2017) | Samantha Fish | Ruf | Luther Dickinson | |
Kill or Be Kind | (2019) | Samantha Fish | Rounder | Scott Billington}
Notes
References
External links
|
- 1989 births
- Living people
- American blues guitarists
- American blues singers
- American female guitarists
- American female singer-songwriters
- American blues singer-songwriters
- Musicians from Kansas City, Missouri
- Songwriters from Missouri
- Singers from Missouri
- Guitarists from Missouri
- 21st-century American singers
- 21st-century American women singers
- 21st-century American guitarists